James Carr | Schools Week

Covid testing in schools: DfE aligns advice with NHS following confusion

The Department for Education (DfE) is no longer encouraging school staff to undergo Covid testing within 90 days of a positive result after schools said it could needlessly force more teachers to isolate. Staff are currently able to take up to two rapid lateral flow tests per week as part of the mass testing regime […]

Williamson won’t commit to delivering laptops before schools reopen

Schools will be able to order the remaining 300,000 promised laptops from next week – but the education secretary will only commit to delivering “the majority” by the time they are due to reopen. Data released by the Department for Education (DfE) on Tuesday showed the number of laptops dispatched to schools had fallen for […]

30% fewer DfE laptops delivered last week as rollout slows

The government’s delivery of laptops to England’s poorest pupils has slowed for a third week running – with 30 per cent fewer devices distributed last week. According to data released by the Department for Education (DfE) today, 51,676 laptops were dispatched to schools between January 24 and 31 – down from 74,489 the previous week. […]

Ofsted confirms remote inspections extended until March 8

Ofsted has confirmed that in-person routine inspections will not be returning until March 8 at the earliest. The schools watchdog had originally planned to undertake remote inspections until the February half-term before reviewing its next steps. However, new guidance published as part of the inspectorate’s rolling Covid-19 update today confirmed that planned inspection work will […]

Joining live lessons won’t be ‘the norm’, says Ofsted

Ofsted has reassured schools that inspectors will not be joining pupils’ live lessons as “the norm” during its remote monitoring inspections this term. New guidance last week said inspectors could join online lessons to “understand how education is being provided by the school”. The announcement prompted concern from teachers who feared that the practice would […]

Heads want refunds after pupil premium change

Headteachers want refunds for the thousands of pounds they say they will lose after the government changed its method for handing out pupil premium cash. The Department for Education will calculate the number of children eligible for funding from April based on the October census, instead of the January census it previously used. The change, […]

Speed read: Think tank calls for GCSEs to be scrapped by 2025

GCSEs should be scrapped by 2025 and replaced by computer-based assessments in the majority of national curriculum subjects, a think tank has said. A new report from EDSK, released today, calls for an overhaul of secondary education in England. Tom Richmond, EDSK director and former adviser to both Michael Gove and Nicky Morgan, said the […]

Promised laptops may take another 6 weeks to be delivered, new figures suggest

Poorer pupils face waiting up to six weeks for the government to provide all of the laptops it has promised after the pace of delivery appears to have to slowed down. According to data released by the Department for Education (DfE) today, 876,013 of the 1.3 million devices pledged by the government had been dispatched […]

Soaring teacher workload, and 6 more findings from Ofsted’s remote learning research

Ofsted research has published a report into remote education following months of school visits and interviews with staff and parents. These are main findings you need to know: 1. Switch to remote education has increased teachers’ workload Ofsted found leaders “frequently cited” the workload burden that remote learning has placed upon teachers – with a […]